U.S. patent application number 13/740587 was filed with the patent office on 2013-09-26 for question generation and presentation.
This patent application is currently assigned to Alibaba.com Limited. The applicant listed for this patent is ALIBABA.COM LIMITED. Invention is credited to Boris Basevich, Michael Effle, Christina Liu, Gregory Charles McNutt, Victor Miagkikh, Boomi Perumal, Rodney Andrew Resella, Charles Bennett Smith, Liujin Yu.
Application Number | 20130252221 13/740587 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 47604253 |
Filed Date | 2013-09-26 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130252221 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
McNutt; Gregory Charles ; et
al. |
September 26, 2013 |
QUESTION GENERATION AND PRESENTATION
Abstract
Presenting and generating questions are disclosed, including:
presenting a first set of questions to a plurality of users;
collecting a first set of answers pertaining to the first set of
questions; generating a second set of questions pertaining to the
first set of answers by the plurality of users; and determining
influence scores corresponding to the plurality of users based at
least in part on a second set of answers pertaining to the second
set of questions.
Inventors: |
McNutt; Gregory Charles;
(Sunnyvale, CA) ; Effle; Michael; (Antioch,
CA) ; Smith; Charles Bennett; (Livermore, CA)
; Basevich; Boris; (Sunnyvale, CA) ; Liu;
Christina; (Burlingame, CA) ; Yu; Liujin;
(Sunnyvale, CA) ; Miagkikh; Victor; (San
Francisco, CA) ; Perumal; Boomi; (Fremont, CA)
; Resella; Rodney Andrew; (Pacifica, CA) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
ALIBABA.COM LIMITED |
George Town |
|
KY |
|
|
Assignee: |
Alibaba.com Limited
George Town
KY
|
Family ID: |
47604253 |
Appl. No.: |
13/740587 |
Filed: |
January 14, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
61587550 |
Jan 17, 2012 |
|
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|
Current U.S.
Class: |
434/350 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 30/02 20130101;
G09B 7/00 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
434/350 |
International
Class: |
G09B 7/00 20060101
G09B007/00 |
Claims
1. A system to generate and present questions, comprising: one or
more processors configured to: present a first set of questions to
a plurality of users; collect a first set of answers pertaining to
the first set of questions; generate a second set of questions
pertaining to the first set of answers by the plurality of users;
and determine influence scores corresponding to the plurality of
users based at least in part on a second set of answers pertaining
to the second set of questions; and one or more memories coupled to
the one or more processors and configured to provide
instructions.
2. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one question of the
first set of questions comprises an inquiry for a user opinion.
3. The system of claim 1, wherein a question from the second set of
questions is generated is based at least in part on at least one
answer of the first set of answers.
4. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one question of the
second set of questions comprises an inquiry for a user opinion of
another user opinion.
5. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are
further configured to generate one or more units of social currency
in response to the first set of answers.
6. The system of claim 1, wherein presenting a first set of
questions to a plurality of users includes: receiving an indication
associated with an opportunity to present a question to a user from
the plurality of users; determining a plurality of candidate
questions for the user; ranking the plurality of candidate
questions based at least in part on an influence score associated
with the user; and selecting a candidate question from the
plurality of candidate questions to present to the user based at
least in part on a rank associated with the candidate question.
7. The system of claim 1, wherein collecting the first set of
answers pertaining to the first set of questions includes:
receiving an indication associated with a submission of an answer
to a question from the first set of questions; determining that the
question comprises a seed question; and allocating a unit of social
currency to a user from the plurality of users associated with the
submission of the answer.
8. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are
further configured to collect the second set of answers pertaining
to the second set of questions including: receiving an indication
associated with a submission of an answer from a first user from
the plurality of users to a question from the second set of
questions; determining that the question comprises a secondary
question that is determined based at least in part on the answer
submitted by a second user of the plurality of users; determining a
first portion of a unit of social currency to allocate to the first
user associated with the submission of the answer based at least in
part on an influence score associated with the first user; and
determining a second portion of the unit of social currency to
allocate to the second user associated with the question based at
least in part on an influence score associated with the second
user.
9. The system of claim 1, wherein the one or more processors are
further configured to reduce an influence score associated with a
user based at least in part on a configured decay function.
10. The system of claim 1, wherein determining influence scores
corresponding to the plurality of users based at least in part on
the second set of answers pertaining to the second set of questions
includes: determining whether a first answer included in the second
set of answers included an user agreement with a second answer
included in the first of answers; and in the event that the first
answer agreed with the second answer, then adding at least one
influence point to an influence score of a user associated with the
second answer; in the event that the first answer did not agree
with the second answer, then reducing at least one influence point
from the influence score of the user associated with the second
answer.
11. A method for generating and presenting questions, comprising:
presenting a first set of questions to a plurality of users;
collecting a first set of answers pertaining to the first set of
questions; generating a second set of questions pertaining to the
first set of answers by the plurality of users; and determining
influence scores corresponding to the plurality of users based at
least in part on a second set of answers pertaining to the second
set of questions.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one question of the
first set of questions comprises an inquiry for a user opinion.
13. The method of claim 11, wherein a question from the second set
of questions is generated based at least in part on at least one
answer of the first set of answers.
14. The method of claim 11, wherein at least one question of the
second set of questions comprises an inquiry for a user opinion of
another user opinion.
15. The method of claim 11, further comprising generating one or
more units of social currency in response to the first set of
answers.
16. The method of claim 11, wherein presenting a first set of
questions to a plurality of users includes: receiving an indication
associated with an opportunity to present a question to a user from
the plurality of users; determining a plurality of candidate
questions for the user; ranking the plurality of candidate
questions based at least in part on an influence score associated
with the user; and selecting a candidate question from the
plurality of candidate questions to present to the user based at
least in part on a rank associated with the candidate question.
17. The method of claim 11, wherein collecting the first set of
answers pertaining to the first set of questions includes:
receiving an indication associated with a submission of an answer
to a question from the first set of questions; determining that the
question comprises a seed question; and allocating a unit of social
currency to a user from the plurality of users associated with the
submission of the answer.
18. The method of claim 11, further comprising collecting the
second set of answers pertaining to the second set of questions
including: receiving an indication associated with a submission of
an answer from a first user from the plurality of users to a
question from the second set of questions; determining that the
question comprises a secondary question that is determined based at
least in part on the answer submitted by a second user of the
plurality of users; determining a first portion of a unit of social
currency to allocate to the first user associated with the
submission of the answer based at least in part on an influence
score associated with the first user; and determining a second
portion of the unit of social currency to allocate to the second
user associated with the question based at least in part on an
influence score associated with the second user.
19. The method of claim 11, further comprising reducing an
influence score associated with a user based at least in part on a
configured decay function.
20. The method of claim 11, wherein determining influence scores
corresponding to the plurality of users based at least in part on
the second set of answers pertaining to the second set of questions
includes: determining whether a first answer included in the second
set of answers included an user agreement with a second answer
included in the first of answers; and in the event that the first
answer agreed with the second answer, then adding at least one
influence point to an influence score of a user associated with the
second answer; in the event that the first answer did not agree
with the second answer, then reducing at least one influence point
from the influence score of the user associated with the second
answer.
21. A computer program product for generating and presenting
questions, the computer program product being embodied in a
computer readable storage medium and comprising computer
instructions for: presenting a first set of questions to a
plurality of users; collecting a first set of answers pertaining to
the first set of questions; generating a second set of questions
pertaining to the first set of answers by the plurality of users;
and determining influence scores corresponding to the plurality of
users based at least in part on a second set of answers pertaining
to the second set of questions.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO OTHER APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent
Application No. 61/587,550 entitled ANSWERING QUESTIONS AND
VALIDATING STATEMENTS USING SOCIAL CURRENCY filed Jan. 17, 2012
which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] Users may complete surveys when they are solicited to do so
but they may not be compensated for their time and effort.
Furthermore, sometimes a survey may be designed to be long and
complicated, whereas a solicited user has only a limited amount of
time that he or she is willing to spend on completing the survey.
As a result, the survey may not be completed by many of the
solicited users, and neither those that administer the survey nor
the solicited users may benefit from participating in the
survey.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0003] Various embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the
following detailed description and the accompanying drawings.
[0004] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a system for
generating and presenting questions to users.
[0005] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a server.
[0006] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of a process
for generating and presenting questions.
[0007] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of a process
for generating questions.
[0008] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of a process
for selecting a question to present to a user.
[0009] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of a process
for allocating social currency for a submission of an answer to a
question.
[0010] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of a process
for decaying influence scores over time.
[0011] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an authentication
user interface associated with the question generation and
presentation service.
[0012] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a question type
selection user interface associated with the question generation
and presentation service.
[0013] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a user profile
user interface associated with the question generation and
presentation service.
[0014] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface
associated with a presentation of a seed question.
[0015] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface
associated with a presentation of a secondary question.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] The invention can be implemented in numerous ways, including
as a process; an apparatus; a system; a composition of matter; a
computer program product embodied on a computer readable storage
medium; and/or a processor, such as a processor configured to
execute instructions stored on and/or provided by a memory coupled
to the processor. In this specification, these implementations, or
any other form that the invention may take, may be referred to as
techniques. In general, the order of the steps of disclosed
processes may be altered within the scope of the invention. Unless
stated otherwise, a component such as a processor or a memory
described as being configured to perform a task may be implemented
as a general component that is temporarily configured to perform
the task at a given time or a specific component that is
manufactured to perform the task. As used herein, the term
`processor` refers to one or more devices, circuits, and/or
processing cores configured to process data, such as computer
program instructions.
[0017] A detailed description of one or more embodiments of the
invention is provided below along with accompanying figures that
illustrate the principles of the invention. The invention is
described in connection with such embodiments, but the invention is
not limited to any embodiment. The scope of the invention is
limited only by the claims and the invention encompasses numerous
alternatives, modifications and equivalents. Numerous specific
details are set forth in the following description in order to
provide a thorough understanding of the invention. These details
are provided for the purpose of example and the invention may be
practiced according to the claims without some or all of these
specific details. For the purpose of clarity, technical material
that is known in the technical fields related to the invention has
not been described in detail so that the invention is not
unnecessarily obscured.
[0018] Embodiments of question generation and presentation are
described herein. A set of seed questions is generated. For
example, a seed question may solicit for a user's opinion related
to one or more products. The seed questions are presented to users.
For example, a user may use a software application associated with
answering questions and choose to answer as many seed questions
that the user has time for at the moment. The answers to the seed
questions are collected and a set of secondary questions are
generated based on the users' submitted answers to the seed
questions. For example, if an answer to a seed question included a
first user's opinion, then the secondary question generated based
on that answer may inquire a second user whether he or she agrees
with the first user's opinion. The set of secondary questions are
presented to users. For example, a mix of seed questions and
secondary questions may be presented to the user when the user
opens the software application associated with answering questions.
The answers to the set of secondary questions are collected and
influence scores are determined for the users based on the
collected answers to the secondary questions. In some embodiments,
an influence score of a user reflects the user's influence on a
community of users. In some embodiments, a user may be associated
with multiple influence scores, where each influence score is
associated with the user's influence in a particular category of
questions. In some embodiments, the answers to the set of secondary
answers are iteratively used to generate more secondary questions.
In some embodiments, units of social currency, which comprise
virtual credits, are awarded to users based on their submission of
answers (e.g., level of participation in answering questions). In
some embodiments, users with greater influence (e.g., a higher
influence score) may be given more social currency for either
answering a question or having an opinion that is included in a
secondary question that is answered by another user. In some
embodiments, units of social currency earned by a user may be used
by the user to perform certain activities that cost the expenditure
of social currency.
[0019] Through the generation and presentation of questions,
credits (e.g., social currency units) may be awarded for a user's
participation in answers questions. Furthermore, more credit may be
given to users with relatively higher influence. Users are
therefore encouraged to answer more questions to increase their
influence in the community and earn more credits.
[0020] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an embodiment of a system for
generating and presenting questions to users. In the example,
system 100 includes device 102, network 104, and server 106.
Network 104 includes high-speed data networks and/or
telecommunications networks.
[0021] Device 102 communicates with server 106 over network 104.
While device 102 is shown to be a smartphone device, other examples
of device 102 may include a desktop computer, a laptop computer, a
mobile device, a tablet device, or any other type of computing
device. A user using device 102 may access a question generation
and presentation service either by using a dedicated application
(e.g., a smartphone application) or by using a web browser to
access a particular website associated with the question generation
and presentation service. The question generation and presentation
service may be provided at least in part by server 106. For
example, a user who uses the question generation and presentation
service for the first time may perform registration with the
service. Then, when the user has some spare time, he may access the
question generation and presentation service using a mobile device
and answer as many questions as he has time for. This way, the user
may conveniently use his leisure time to submit some of his
opinions in the form of answers to presented questions and even
earn social currency units in the virtual community of the question
generation and presentation service.
[0022] Server 106 is configured to provide, at least in part, the
question generation and presentation service. In some embodiments,
the question generation and presentation service may be implemented
as a website and/or as an application. In response to a user making
a selection associated with receiving a question, server 106 is
configured to select a question to present to the user at a device
such as device 102. In some embodiments, server 106 is configured
to present a question to the user based at least in part on an
influence score associated with the user. For example, the
influence score may apply across all categories of questions or may
be associated with a particular category of questions. In some
embodiments, the question may comprise a seed question or a
secondary question. As used herein, a seed question is not
generated based on a user's submitted answer to another question.
As used herein, a secondary question is based on a user's submitted
answer to another question (e.g., another question such as a seed
question or another secondary question). Server 106 is configured
to receive an answer submitted by the user to the presented
question. In some embodiments, if the presented question comprised
a secondary question, then the received answer may be used to
generate another secondary question to be presented to other users.
In some embodiments, in the event the answered question comprised a
secondary question, server 106 is configured to determine an
increase or decrease to the influence score of at least one user
included in the secondary question. For example, the secondary
question may inquire for agreement with a first person's opinion or
a second person's opinion. If the answer submitted by the user
agreed with the first person's opinion, then the first person
(user) may receive an increase in his influence score while the
second person (user) may receive a decrease in his influence score.
In some embodiments, server 106 is configured to generate a unit of
social currency for the submission of an answer to either a seed
question or a secondary question. In some embodiments, server 106
is configured to allocate a first portion of the social currency
unit to the user who answered the question and a second portion of
the social currency unit to a user included in the question (e.g.,
the user whose opinion the answering user agreed with).
[0023] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a server. In some
embodiments, server 106 of system 100 of FIG. 1 may be implemented
using the example shown in FIG. 2. In actual implementation, server
106 may include additional and/or different components than those
shown in the example. In the example, the server includes user
information database 202, seed questions database 204, secondary
questions database 206, question generator engine 208, social
currency engine 210, and influence score engine 212. Each of user
information database 202, seed questions database 204, and
secondary questions database 206 may be implemented using one or
more databases. Each of question generator engine 208, social
currency engine 210, and influence score engine 212 may be
implemented using software and/or hardware.
[0024] User information database 202 is configured to store
information associated with each user that is registered with the
question generation and presentation service. User information
database 202 is configured to store each user's submitted answers
for seed questions and secondary questions that the user has been
presented with. In some embodiments, questions and/or user
submitted answers may be stored in a graph database such as, for
example, Neo4j. In some embodiments, the graph database and/or
additional logic may be used to keep track of which questions have
already been asked of which users and which questions have not been
asked of which users. User information database 202 is configured
to store each user's accumulated social currency. In some
embodiments, each time a user answers a question, the user is
awarded at least a portion of a unit of social currency. User
information database 202 is configured to store data associated
with the number of question generation and presentation service
recognized relationships (e.g., friendships) each user has with
other users of the service. User information database 202 is
configured to store data associated with each user's current
influence score(s). In some embodiments, each user is associated
with an overall influence score that applies across all categories
of questions. In some embodiments, each user is associated with
multiple influence scores, where each influence score is associated
with a different category of questions. One purpose to maintaining
multiple influence scores is to reflect that notion that a user may
be influential (an expert) in only some categories but not
necessarily every category. Thus, the magnitude of a user's
influence score with respect to a particular category of questions
reflects the user's influence in that particular category. In some
embodiments, when a first user's answer (e.g., opinion) is included
in a secondary question that is answered by a second user, the
first user's influence score may be increased or reduced depending
on the answer submitted by the second user. As will be described
below, in some embodiments, a user's influence score automatically
decays over time (to reflect the notion that a user's influence may
grow and ebb over time as trends change).
[0025] In some embodiments, the user submitted answers to seed
questions and/or secondary questions stored in user information
database 202 may be analyzed periodically. For example, if the
questions are related to e-commerce, the answers may comprise
user's opinions on different products and/or agreements or
disagreements with other user's opinion on different products.
Therefore, such answers may be analyzed to discover trends,
consensuses, crowd-sourced answers, and/or convergence of agreement
regarding the subject matter of the questions.
[0026] Seed questions database 204 is configured to store seed
questions. As mentioned above, seed questions are not based on user
submitted answers to other questions. In some embodiments, seed
questions may be received from questions generator engine 208. In
some embodiments, questions generator engine 208 may receive inputs
of manually generated seed questions. In some embodiments,
questions generator engine 208 may automatically generate seed
questions based on configured rules. In some embodiments, at least
some seed questions stored in seed questions database 204 is stored
with data associated with one or more question categories. A seed
question may comprise a single survey question, for example. In
some embodiments, a seed question may be related to e-commerce. In
one example, an e-commerce seed question may ask the user to select
one product/brand among several products/brands that the user
prefers the most. In another example, an e-commerce seed question
may ask the user to select one among multiple descriptions that
best describes a particular product. In yet another example, an
e-commerce seed question may ask the user to express an opinion for
a particular product/brand. For example, categories of e-commerce
related questions may include clothing, jewelry, electronics,
sporting equipment, books, and shoes. For example, an advertiser
may manually generate seed questions associated with a particular
brand to conduct market research from the users of the question
generation and presentation service.
[0027] Secondary questions database 206 is configured to store
secondary questions. As mentioned above, secondary questions are
based on user submitted answers to other questions (either seed or
secondary questions). In some embodiments, secondary questions may
be received from questions generator engine 208. In some
embodiments, questions generator engine 208 may receive inputs of
manually generated secondary questions. In some embodiments,
questions generator engine 208 may automatically generate secondary
questions based on configured rules and user submitted answers to
seed questions and other secondary questions. In some embodiments,
at least some secondary questions stored in secondary questions
database 206 is stored with data associated with one or more
question categories. A secondary question may comprise a question
related to another user's opinion on a subject matter, for example.
In some embodiments, a secondary question may be related to
e-commerce. For example, a secondary question may ask a first user
whether he or she agrees with a second user's opinion on a
particular brand, where this second user's opinion was an answer
submitted by the second user to another question.
[0028] In some embodiments, question generator engine 208 is
configured to select seed questions and/or secondary questions to
present to users. In some embodiments, question generator engine
208 is configured to track which questions have already been
presented to which users. In some embodiments, question generator
engine 208 is configured to determine a question to ask a user in
response to an indication that the user is available to answer a
question. In some embodiments, question generator engine 208 is
configured to determine a question for a user based at least in
part on a user's influence score (e.g., the user's overall
influence score or the user's influence score with respect to a
specific category of questions).
[0029] Social currency engine 210 is configured to award social
currency to users of the question generation and presentation
service. In some embodiments, social currency engine 210 is
configured to generate a unit of social currency in response to a
user submitting an answer to either a seed question or a secondary
question. In some embodiments, in response to a user submission of
an answer to a seed question, social currency engine 210 is
configured to award the entire unit of social currency to the user.
In some embodiments, in response to a user submission of an answer
to a secondary question, social currency engine 210 is configured
to award a portion of the unit of social currency to the user who
answered the question and another portion of the unit of social
currency to another user (e.g., whose opinion) was included in the
answered question. In some embodiments, social currency engine 210
is configured to allocate the portion of the unit of social
currency to the user who answered the question based on that user's
influence score and the other portion of the unit of social
currency to the other user (e.g., whose opinion) was included in
the answered question based on that user's influence score.
[0030] In some embodiments, social currency engine 210 is
configured to receive an indication that a particular user paid
money to receive an amount of social currency units. Put another
way, in some embodiments, users may pay real world currency in
exchange for virtual social currency. In this case, social currency
engine 210 is configured to award the amount of social currency
units to the user based on an amount of real world money paid by
the user. In some embodiments, social currency engine 210 is
configured to receive selections associated with a user wanting to
trade in his or her accumulated social currency units into physical
or virtual prizes and/or to perform in-service activities that cost
social currency units. For example, an in-service activity that
costs social currency units is establishing a new in-service
relationship (e.g., friendship) with another user. In some
embodiments, social currency engine 210 is configured to receive a
selection that user desires to trade social currency units for an
increase in an influence score associated with the user. Put
another way, in some embodiments, a user may trade in social
currency units for an increase in his or her influence score.
[0031] Influence score engine 212 is configured to determine
modifications to users' influence scores. In some embodiments,
influence score engine 212 is determined to increase or decrease
the influence score of a user whose opinion (that was previously
submitted as an answer to a question) was included in a recently
answered secondary question. For example, if the first user's
opinion was agreed with by a second user who submitted the answer
to the secondary question, the first user's influence score is
increased. However, if the first user's opinion was disagreed with
by the second user who submitted the answer to the secondary
question, then the first user's influence score is decreased. In
some embodiments, influence score engine 212 is configured to decay
each user's influence score(s) over time (e.g., periodically). Put
another way, a user's influence score will automatically decrease
over time. The decay in influence scores is to reflect the notion
that a user's influence (in a particular category) may wane over
time if the user does not keep performing activities to increase
the user's influence score. In some embodiments, a user will be
asked more questions in categories for which the user's has higher
influence scores.
[0032] In some embodiments, users with the highest influence scores
may be identified for special activities and/or to be treated
differently from users who are not associated with the highest
influence scores. For example, periodically, users with the highest
influence scores (highly influential users) may be identified for
each category and be eligible for special promotional activities.
Examples of promotional activities may include a direct award of a
certain amount of social currency units and receipt of seed
questions submitted by advertisers aimed especially for influential
users. Furthermore, highly influential users may be included in a
leader board of influence scores that is available for other users
to view.
[0033] FIG. 3 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of a process
for generating and presenting questions. In some embodiments,
process 300 is implemented at system 100.
[0034] At 302, a first set of questions is presented to a plurality
of users. In some embodiments, the first set of questions may
comprise seed questions that are presented to users that access the
question generation and presentation service.
[0035] At 304, a first set of questions pertaining to the first set
of questions is collected. The answers submitted by the users to
the seed questions are collected and stored. For example, a seed
question asks a user for the user's opinion on a particular subject
matter. In some embodiments, the seed questions may be related to
e-commerce. The following are different examples of seed
questions:
[0036] Is this first product the same as the second product? Answer
choices: a) Agree b) Disagree c) Skip. An image accompanying the
question may show each of the two products.
[0037] This product belongs in Category A. Answer choices: a) Agree
b) Disagree c) Skip. An image accompanying the question may show
the product as well as a link to a description of the category.
[0038] This product has Attribute B. Answer choices: a) Agree b)
Disagree c) Skip. An image accompanying the question may show the
product as well as a link to a description of the attribute.
[0039] What category does this product belong to? Answer choices:
a) Category A b) Category B c) Category C. An image accompanying
the question may show the product as well a description of each
candidate category.
[0040] What color is this? Answer choices: a) Color 1 b) Color 2 c)
Color 3. An image accompanying the question may show the color as
well the name of each color candidate.
[0041] What color is this product? The answer is to be written in
by the user. An image accompanying the question may show the
product.
[0042] What kind of product is this? The answer is to be written in
by the user. An image accompanying the question may show the
product.
[0043] At 306, a second set of questions pertaining to the first
set of answers by the plurality of users is generated. In some
embodiments, the second set of questions may comprise secondary
questions that are generated based at least in part on the answers
submitted for the first set of seed questions. For example, a
secondary question asks a first user whether the first user agrees
with a second user's opinion, where this second user's opinion was
previously submitted as an answer to a seed question.
[0044] At 308, influence scores corresponding to the plurality of
users based at least in part on the second set of answers
pertaining to the second set of questions is determined. The
influence scores of the users whose answers to the first set of
seed questions that were included in the secondary questions to
which answers were collected are modified. In some embodiments, the
influence score of a user may either be increased or decreased
based on the answer submitted to the secondary question. For
example, if the user's opinion is agreed with by another user who
submitted the answer to the secondary question, the user's
influence score is increased.
[0045] In some embodiments, the answers received for the second set
of questions may be used to iteratively generate more questions to
be included in the second set of questions, as will be further
described with FIG. 4.
[0046] FIG. 4 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of a process
for generating questions. In some embodiments, process 400 is
implemented at system 100.
[0047] Process 400 is used to illustrate that the answers received
with respect to secondary questions may be iteratively used to
generate more secondary questions.
[0048] At 402, a first set of answers corresponding to a first set
of questions is received. In some embodiments, the first set of
answers may comprise a set of seed questions. The seed questions
may be presented to one or more users and the answers submitted by
the users are received.
[0049] At 404, a second set of questions is generated based at
least in part on the first set of answers. In some embodiments, the
second set of questions based on the first set of answers may
comprise secondary questions.
[0050] At 406, it is determined whether an answer associated with
the second set of questions has been received. In some embodiments,
at least some of the answers received for presented secondary
questions are used to generate more secondary questions. For
example, a secondary question generated based on an answer from
another secondary question may seek yet another user's agreement or
disagreement with the user's opinion included in the answer. In the
event that an answer associated with the second set of questions
has been received, then control passes to 408. Otherwise, control
passes to 410.
[0051] At 410, it is determined whether the process is to stop. For
example, if it is determined that the iterative process of
generating more secondary questions based on answers received from
existing secondary questions is to end, then the process ends. In
the event that it is determined that the iterative question
generation process is to continue, then control returns to 406.
[0052] FIG. 5 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of a process
for selecting a question to present to a user. In some embodiments,
process 500 is implemented at system 100.
[0053] At 502, an indication associated with an opportunity to
present a question to a user is received. For example, when a user
opens on a device the application associated with the question
generation and presentation service, an indication associated with
an opportunity to present a question to the user is received.
[0054] At 504, a plurality of candidate questions for the user is
determined. For example, candidate questions include at least
questions that have not been previously presented and/or answered
by the user.
[0055] At 506, the plurality of candidate questions is ranked based
at least in part on an influence score associated with the user. In
some embodiments, a weight is computed for each candidate question,
where the weight is determined based at least in part on an
influence score associated with the user. For example, the
influence score used to compute the weight for a particular
candidate question may be the user's current influence score
associated with the category of questions to which the question
belongs. Other factors in addition to the user's influence score
may be used in computing the weight of a candidate question. Once a
weight has been computed for each candidate question, the candidate
questions are ranked based on their respective weights. Because, in
some embodiments, a user's influence score may change over time,
each time a question is to be presented to a user, the weights of
candidate questions may need to be computed again.
[0056] At 508, a candidate question from the plurality of candidate
questions is selected to present to the user based on a rank
associated with the candidate question. In some embodiments, the
candidate question with the greatest weight, and therefore is
ranked the highest, is selected to be presented to the user.
Determining a question to present to a user based on an influence
score associated with the user may cause the user to be presented
with more questions from categories in which the user is more
influential (i.e., categories in which the user has higher
influence scores). As such, a user is given the chance to
continually increase his or her influence in a particular
category.
[0057] FIG. 6 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of a process
for allocating social currency for a submission of an answer to a
question. In some embodiments, process 600 is implemented at system
100.
[0058] At 602, an indication associated with a submission of an
answer to a question is received.
[0059] At 604, in response to the indication, a unit of social
currency is generated. For each question that is answered, a unit
of social currency is generated and allocated to one or more
users.
[0060] At 605, it is determined if the question comprises a
secondary question. In the event that the question comprises a
secondary question, then the control passes to 606. If it is
determined that the answered question was a secondary question,
which is a question that is based on a previously submitted answer
to another question, then control passes to 606. Otherwise, control
passes to 610. At 610, if the answered question was a seed
question, which was not based on an answer from another question,
then the entire unit of social currency is determined to be
allocated to the user associated with the submission of the
question.
[0061] At 606, a first portion of the unit of social currency is
determined to be allocated to a first user associated with the
submission of the answer based at least in part on an influence
score associated with the first user. In various embodiments, a
secondary question is associated with at least two users: the first
user may comprise the user who answered the question and the second
user may comprise the user whose opinion (that was taken from a
previously submitted answer) is included in the question.
[0062] At 608, a second portion of the unit of social currency is
determined to be allocated to a second user associated with the
question based at least in part on an influence score associated
with the second user.
[0063] In some embodiments, the unit of social currency generated
in response to the submission of an answer to the secondary
question is divided between the two users based on the users'
respective influence scores with respect to the category of the
answered question.
[0064] For example, user Nancy45 answered a seed question that
asked her which type of fabric is popular this winter with the
answer choice "velvet". Nancy45's influence score in the clothing
category to which the seed question belongs is 150. Because Nancy45
had answered the seed question, Nancy45 was awarded a unit of
social currency. Subsequently, a secondary question that asked user
Jeff00 if he agreed with Nancy45's opinion that "velvet" was a
popular fabric this winter. Jeff00's influence score in the
clothing category to which the secondary question belongs is 50.
Jeff00 submits an answer to the secondary question that he agreed
with Nancy45's opinion that "velvet" was a popular fabric this
winter. Because Jeff00 had answered the secondary question that
involved Nancy45, a unit of social currency is to be divided
between Jeff00 and Nancy45. For example, the unit of social
currency may be divided proportionally based on the relative
influence scores of users Jeff00 and Nancy45. For example, each
user may be allocated the portion of the unit of social currency
that is proportional to his or her share of the sum of the two
users' influence scores. So Nancy45 would receive
(150)/(150+50)*1.0=0.75 social currency units and Jeff00 would
receive (50)/(150+50)*1.0=0.25 social currency units. As shown in
this example, even though Nancy45 did not answer this particular
question, because Nancy45's opinion was included in the question,
Nancy45 was able to receive a portion of the unit of social
currency that was generated from Jeff00's submission of an answer
to this question. Furthermore, in some embodiments, because Jeff00
had agreed with Nancy45's opinion in his answer to this question,
Nancy45 would enjoy an increase to her influence score in the
clothing category. However, if Jeff00 had disagreed with Nancy45's
opinion in his answer to this question, Nancy45 would have suffered
a reduction to her influence score in the clothing category. In
some embodiments, multiple user opinions may be included in a
question to another user. For example, Jeff00 could have disagreed
with Nancy45's opinion and instead agreed with another user's
opinion that was included in the question. For example, the
question could have asked Jeff00 whether he agrees with Nancy45's
opinion that "velvet" is a popular fabric this winter or Sarah19's
opinion that "leather" is a popular fabric this winter, in which
case if Jeff00 agrees with Sarah19 then the unit of social currency
could have been divided between Jeff00 and Sarah19 (e.g., based on
their respective influence scores). As described above, in some
embodiments, only the user whose opinion was agreed with in the
question splits the unit of social currency with the user that
answered the question. In some other embodiments, regardless of
whose opinion the user that answered the secondary question agrees
with, a unit of social currency is split among each user whose
opinion was included in the question and the user who had answered
the secondary question.
[0065] FIG. 7 is a flow diagram showing an embodiment of a process
for decaying influence scores over time. In some embodiments,
process 700 is implemented at system 100.
[0066] At 702, it is determined whether a decay period associated
with an influence score has elapsed. In some embodiments, a decay
period comprising a length of time may be configured such that per
an elapse of each decay period for a particular influence score
associated with a user, the influence score is to be decayed (i.e.,
reduced). For example, a timer may be associated with each
influence score that tracks the length of time passed since the
last time the influence score has been decayed. In the event that
the decay period has elapsed for a particular influence score, then
control passes to 704. Otherwise, control passes to 706.
[0067] At 704, the influence score is computed based on a decay
function (e.g., an exponential decay function whose decay rate is
empirically chosen by the administrator). The particular influence
score whose decay period has elapsed is reduced. In some
embodiments, an amount of reduction associated with the decay per
each decay period is also configurable. For example, once an
influence score has been computed based on the decay function, the
timer associated with the influence score may be reset to zero.
[0068] At 706, it is determined whether there are any more
influence scores to determine for decay. For example, another
influence score of the same user or an influence score of another
user may be checked for whether its associated decay period has
elapsed. In the event that there is at least one more additional
influence score to potentially decay, then control passes to 708.
Otherwise, the process ends.
[0069] At 708, the next influence score is determined for
decay.
[0070] Process 700 shows that an influence score of a user may
decay over time. In combination with process 300 and other
embodiments described above, it shows that for a user whose
opinions are either not agreed with by other users and/or not often
agreed with by other users, the user's influence scores (i.e.,
influence) with respect to the categories associated with such
opinions will decrease. Thus, the user has an interest to generate
more opinions (e.g., answer more questions) and especially ones
that other users may agree with to maintain and even increase his
or her influence level.
[0071] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of an authentication
user interface associated with the question generation and
presentation service. In the example, user interface 800 is
presented at a smart phone that is used by a user. In some
embodiments, the user may gain authentication to use the question
generation and presentation service using a third party
authentication scheme such as Facebook.RTM. Connect. In the user
interface of the example shown, Facebook.RTM. Connect is used to
authenticate a user so the user may access the question generation
and presentation service by submitting his or her Facebook.RTM.
related email or phone and password in order to authenticate into
the user's account with the question generation and presentation
service. Other authentication techniques besides Facebook.RTM.
Connect may be used as well.
[0072] FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a question type
selection user interface associated with the question generation
and presentation service. In the example, user interface 900 is
presented at a smart phone that is used by a user. For example,
user interface 900 may be presented to user Rodney R. after the
user authenticated himself with the service using user interface
800 of FIG. 8. In the example, user interface 900 includes four
different types of questions that may be presented to the user. The
four types of questions included in the example include product
match, category match, like scale, and same or different. In the
example, the user may either directly select a particular question
type (e.g., by tapping on the appropriate area of the screen) or
select the "Spin" wheel to have a type of question be randomly
selected for the user. Once the type of question is selected, a
user may be presented with at least one question of the selected
type.
[0073] FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of a user profile
user interface associated with the question generation and
presentation service. In the example, user interface 1000 is
presented at a smart phone that is used by a user. The user profile
depicted in user interface 1000 is for user Rodney R. As shown in
the example, the user profile shows the amount of social currency
(165) that has been accumulated by Rodney R. and also a current
influence score (250) associated with Rodney R. For example, the
influence score may be across multiple categories of questions or
associated with a particular category of questions. The user
profile also shows the number of friends that Rodney R. has within
the question generation and presentation user community, as well as
Rodney R.'s favorite items (e.g., presented questions) within the
question generation and presentation service.
[0074] FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface
associated with a presentation of a seed question. In the example,
user interface 1100 is presented at a smart phone that is used by a
user. At the upper right corner of user interface 1100 is
information associated the user that is currently signed into the
question generation and presentation service at the device. The
user information indicates that the user is Rodney R. and that he
has accumulated 165 social currency units so far. The seed question
presented at user interface 1100 shows a question that asks the
user of his opinion of whether "KOKA Kola" brand cola or "Quench"
brand cola tastes better. The user may select the radio button
associated with the brand of cola that the user thinks tastes
better at the answer choices presented in area 1102. To submit the
selected answer, the user may select the "Submit" button. In
response to Rodney R.'s submission of an answer to the seed
question, Rodney R would be awarded one social currency unit so
that he would have accumulated 166 social currency units.
[0075] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a user interface
associated with a presentation of a secondary question. In the
example, user interface 1200 is presented at a smart phone that is
used by a user. At the upper right corner of user interface 1200 is
information associated the user that is currently signed into the
question generation and presentation service at the device. The
user information indicates that the user is Josie M. and that she
has accumulated 112 social currency units so far. The secondary
question presented at user interface 1200 shows a question that
asks the user whether the user agrees with user Rodney R.'s opinion
that "KOKA Kola" brand cola tastes better or agrees with user
DaveM8's opinion that "Quench" brand cola tastes better. For
example, at user interface 1100, Rodney R. submitted the answer
that "KOKA Kola" brand cola tastes better and that answer (opinion)
was used to generate the secondary question presented at user
interface 1200. In the example, the user may select the radio
button associated with the opinion that the user agrees with at the
answer choices presented in area 1202. To submit the selected
answer, the user may select the "Submit" button. In some
embodiments, in response to Josie M.'s submission of an answer to
the secondary question, a portion of a generated social currency
unit is allocated to Josie M. for completing the question and
another portion of the social currency unit may be allocated to
Rodney R. for being included in the question. For example, if Josie
M.'s answer had agreed with Rodney R.'s opinion that "KOKA Kola"
tasted better, then both Josie M. and Rodney R. would receive
portions of the social currency unit. However, if Josie M.'s answer
had agreed with DaveM8's opinion that "Quench" tasted better, then
both Josie M. and DaveM8 would receive portions of the social
currency unit. Furthermore, if Josie M.'s answer had agreed with
Rodney R.'s opinion that "KOKA Kola" tasted better, then Rodney R.
would receive an increase to his influence score with respect to
the category this question belongs to and DaveM8 would receive a
reduction in his influence score in the same category. But if Josie
M.'s answer had agreed with DaveM8's opinion that "Quench" tasted
better, then DaveM8 would receive an increase to his influence
score with respect to the category this question belongs to and
Rodney R. would receive a reduction in his influence score in the
same category.
[0076] Although the foregoing embodiments have been described in
some detail for purposes of clarity of understanding, the invention
is not limited to the details provided. There are many alternative
ways of implementing the invention. The disclosed embodiments are
illustrative and not restrictive.
* * * * *